Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1302805
joins other primitive benches for conversation or contemplation. e outer circle stone was contributed by a family friend, Stephen Reichert, who hired his nephew, John Reichert, to lay it. "I see his work every day in my home and enjoyed being involved in a project for such a good cause," said John Reichert, who owns several of Fernando's photographs, including landscapes, seascapes and a waterfall. A small, raised inner circle of upright river stones contains three embedded elements: a stainless-steel gazing ball, a bowl encased in a pebbly surround and a ceramic replica of a pre-Columbian Peruvian head sculpted by Frances and based on one of Fernando's favorite photographs. Frances' own talent was key to the memorial garden in innumerable ways — her imagination, designs, sketches, landscape choices and sculpture, including the large clay Asian/Zen style Scholar Stone beyond the stone circles. Replete with significance, it's a nod to Fernando's love of teaching, enthusiasm for photographing stone and is evocative of his childhood frolicking among Peru's Incan ruins. 10-feet high, inspired by the Wall of Gifts at Highgrove, the country home of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. Frances, the garden's unofficial project manager, credited Coleman with engineering the wall, a painstaking process that took several months. e wall's unexpected design element, an oculus, is a reference to the aperture of a camera and Fernando's penchant for photographing landscapes through windows. Local craftsman John Wilson, who created the bottom portion of the wall, and Coleman, responsible for the top portion including the oculus, fashioned the structure with two truckloads of stone given to Wilson by a friend. In turn, Wilson gifted the collection to the garden and incorporated Fernando's personal gifts and relics as embellishments — a chunk of the Berlin Wall, vestiges of Frances and Fernando's homes, architectural elements found on campus and pieces of students' ceramic art. Initially, Wilson and his two assistants were hired as paid masons, but with funds rapidly depleting, Wilson donated his time and talent to ensure the wall's completion. "Typically, I work in construction, so I jumped at the opportunity to do something so creative and lasting," he said. "I love the feel of stone, and choosing where to place teach piece. I was happy to collaborate with Frances on Tanner and Alexis' design." e oculus entices visitors to gaze through it to discover another section of the garden, the focal point of which is two concentric circles of rocks. A shell-topped bench donated by ceramics artist Amy McCullough FERNANDO LA ROSA IN THE CLASSROOM Fernando La Rosa was a towering figure in the art world and in the classroom he so deftly commanded. With exhibitions across the U.S., Europe, Central and South America, he was credited as the founder of artistic photography in contemporary Peru. He embodied the teacher he longed for as a young man but which eluded him, imparting what one student said were "valuable lessons on the true meaning of life and art." In academia, he's remembered with reverence and affection as a "beautiful spirit." One student said, "he had a zest for life, excitement and creativity in all its forms." Another called him "my greatest teacher, no doubt." Students loved his swagger, referring to him as "talented, funny and so damn cool." But he was a tough taskmaster, always challenging his pupils. One admitted, "I was intimidated by his energy." Another said, "he approached his craft and teaching with truth — sometimes poetically, sometimes brutally, always with impact." Of his photography they said, "it moved me to tears" and "it stilled my soul." Another added, "Dr. La Rosa communicated wisely and truthfully in his craft and his teaching." Students were grateful for his devotion to his own art and to theirs, remarking, "he encouraged my passion in photography in a way no one had before." AT RIGHT: Frances La Rosa's hand-drawn rendering of the Fernando La Rosa Memorial Garden. NEXT PAGE: Fernando and Frances La Rosa in 1985. 44 maconmagazine.com | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020